Rainbow Summer
by BlueStripedPolo
Summary: When Max told me we would be finding out who our parents were, I had stopped typing. But later, I decided to take the chance of meeting them, if only because of Ella's story. Nudge-centric! COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Author's Note: Not much to say this is a rewrite chapter. Hope it's better, and of you who read the first first chapter, let me know if it is/isn't. Thanks! Oh yeah, the whole story will be told in Nudge's POV. And, the above disclaimer will be the ONLY one, but it holds true throughout the whole story. Okay?**

I rested my head on Micha's shoulder as a cartoon character delivered a punchline that made Gazzy chuckle from the floor in front of me. Micha smiled into my curly, black hair.

As the episode neared the end, I felt eyes watching me.

I whipped my head around towards the front of the house and saw a flash of blonde hair disappear upstairs.

"What's wrong, Nudge?" Micha whispered as I turned back to the TV.

"Nothing," I replied back. "I just thought I saw something." Angel was laying next to Gazzy, watching the episode's ending.

It was Max.

A commercial break started as the episode ended and Micha checked his watch.

"Well, I'd love to stay and watch the next episode with you guys, but, work calls." Angel and I grinned and Gazzy sat up.

"Bye, Micha," he said, giving a little wave. Micha kissed the top of my head as he waved back to Gazzy. As Micha left, he called out to the whole house,"

"Bye, guys!"

"Bye, Micha!" I swear, the whole house called back to him and I couldn't help but smile; could I have had a better boyfriend?

The dinner that night was great. Iggy grilled burgers that everyone couldn't seem to get enough of, so I assumed they were great. I didn't have any, I'm a vegetarian, but Gazzy ate my share happily. I, instead, had these really great grilled potato cheese things that Iggy also grilled and salad that Ella and I made.

Once all the dishes were done, Max gathered us all back into the kitchen, even Dr. Martinez and Ella. As we were milling around, waiting for Max, who was standing behind a sitting-and-typing Fang, to start, she caught my eye and waved me over.

I walked over to here, unsure of what she wanted.

But it was Fang who spoke.

"Can you hack into this for me, Nudge? Please?" He added the last part after a second.

I bent over the table and turned the laptop to dace me before starting.

"It's Itex's old database. We have to finish one last part of Max's mission, and then we can access some information that you may enjoy."

I glanced at him, my fingers not leaving the keyboard, but he only gave a little grin.

Behind me, Max cleared her throat and the little amount of noise there was changed to absolute silence.

"To cut right to the point, I'll explain to you what's happening. Nudge is hacking into Itex's old database, which Fang found on his laptop this morning. After she does that, Fang will be able to send out a virus that will get every single Itex related computer in the world, except for his, and completely wipe out its database. Then, we might be able to get information on you families, using these files."

My hands froze at the keyboard. My family? Like, biological? Parents and siblings?

Fang elbowed my side. "C'mon, Nudge. Keep typing." I did as he said, touching the screen gently and then letting my hands fly as they entered a long stream of numbers and letters before I forgot them.

Until, finally,_ finally_, I was done. I cracked my knuckles and rolled my shoulders back as Fang pulled the laptop over to him.

His fingers flew all over the laptop, typing and clicking with the track pad.

Fang pushed the laptop back to me and I typed in another password that he needed to be allowed to send the virus. I scooted the laptop back towards him, and Fang quickly hit the "send" button.

"Okay," Max said, "Fang's sending the virus." The virus got ready to be sent to maybe ten, or maybe thousands of computers all over the world, but, first it needed yet another password.

I quickly typed it in, and when the screen flashed "sent", and after Max announced it, a small cheer went up.

Fang started to type and click and scroll again as he looked for the files that might contain information on where we came from, who we were.

Suddenly, he stopped.

"Guys," he said, "I found it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Everyone gathered around Fang, trying to get a look at their families.

I let myself be pushed onto the edge of the tiny group, and found myself standing next to Max.

"Do you not want to see your family?" She asked, not looking at me. "I remember a few years ago when you were very excited at the idea."

"Yeah, I know. I was. I still am, a little bit. But, and, yeah, I know, this is gonna sound cheesy, but, I already have a family." Max nodded, watching the Flock as they crowded around Fang, even the blind Iggy.

"I know exactly what you mean, Nudge. It's your decision, but, if I was you, I'd at least give it a a shot."

Angel came over to us then, and pulled us right up behind Fang to get a good look at the screen.

"Look, Max," the going-on-thirteen Gazzy said excitedly, "we hit the jackpot!"

Max smiled and ruffled his blonde hair and I thought about how hard it must be for her to potentially let go of everyone of us, her first family.

Max smiled at me as if she could read my mind, but when I glanced at Angel, she was too absorbed in Fang's laptop screen to have sent my thoughts to Max. I smiled back at her, realizing something.

Even if, like Max, I met my parents and they accepted my winged self, the Flock would always be my first family.

Angel pulled me back again into the real world and pointed at the laptop.

"You look exactly like your mom, except taller!" When I looked at the screen, I realized I did. My mom was a short little lady, but I definitely took after her in skin-coloring; a warm mocha color. And I had the same unruly, curly black hair as her, too.

My dad, though, who was standing next to her, arm around her, was almost as pale as Iggy. He had brown hair that looked like it was pushed away from his face before the picture was taken. Since his eyes were revealed, I could see where I got my brown eyes from; him.

Fang scrolled down past a bunch of words and other information that I would read later that night, and suddenly we were looking at the Gasman and Angel's parents.

They looked friendly enough, for people who sold their children.

Gazzy took Angel's hand and held it tightly as the looked over Fang's shoulder.

They took heavily after their father, though they were more tan from all their outdoor time. He had curly blonde hair just like the two of them, and they definitely had his bright blue eyes. He looked like a laid-back surfer kind of guy, and their mom was the complete opposite.

As soon as I looked at her, I could believe her giving up her kids for money. She was tall and had very tan skin that was probably the result of several hours in a tanning booth. Her brown hair was framed around her face in a professional-like way. From what I could see of her collar, it seemed like she was wearing a woman's business suit, and she looked very uptight.

Eek. I hoped their dad was as cool as he looked, if only to make up for their mom.

As Fang printed all the information we needed, Gazzy and Angel ran upstairs to Dr. Martinez's study to get it. Fang was tapping the table patiently and Max was talking with Iggy and Dr. Martinez quietly.

Ella walked over to me, smile lighting up her brown eyes, and I noticed that I was about two inches taller than her, even though she was about a year older than me.

"Are you excited, Nudge?"

"I don't know, Ella. I would have been a few years ago, but, well, you guys are my family now."

Ella nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I was presented with the chance to meet my father about a year before I met Max. I didn't know how to react." Ella's facial expression changed to a distant one, and I realized that in the two and-something year we lived with the Martinez's, I had never heard Ella or Dr. Martinez speak of Ella's father.

"So," I prompted, "what'd you do?"

"Guys, guys!" Angel yelled, running back into the dining room with her brother behind her. "We got the papers!"

"Angel," Dr. Martinez said sternly. "No yelling in the house."

"Oops, sorry. Forgot," Angel replied, flipping through a stack of papers she was carrying.

Angel handed some papers to Fang, and Gazzy handed me mine.

On top was the picture of my parents that I had seen on Fang's laptop, but I didn't feel like looking at that. I put it on the bottom and went into the kitchen to sit on the counter to read the words I had once so desperately wanted.

Alexander and Nicole Cavalier. Those were the names of my parents. They had lived in Arizona like I'd originally thought, but they'd moved a few years ago to a small town in southern North Carolina about a twenty minute drive from the Atlantic Coast.

From what I could tell, they were both pretty successful. Alexander, my father, was a doctor at a nearby town and my mother was principal at the local high school.

I had two little siblings, too. Their names were Matthew and Makayla. When I read their names, I smiled. Monique, Matthew and Makayla. Notice a pattern?

"How's your family?" Ella asked casually, coming into the kitchen for a glass of milk.

"They sound great. They live in North Carolina, only about twenty minutes from the coast. And I have two little siblings; Matthew and Makayla.

"That's cool. How old are they?"

"Matthew's thirteen. Makayla is ten. Guess what?"

"I give up." I smiled; Ella never was good at guessing.

"My name is Monique."

"Hey! Three M's! How cute!"

"Yup. Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Go for it," Ella replied easily, leaning against the fridge.

"What did you do? About your dad, I mean?"

"Oh, I went and met him. But, it turned out to be-"

"Hey, Nudge," Max said, poking her head into the kitchen from the dining room. "We need you in here." I glanced back at Ella, but she was already moving into the dining room.

I jumped off the counter with my papers and a sigh. At this rate I was never going to get to hear her story.

"We're leaving a week from tomorrow," Max said as soon as I walked into the room. "It'll give you guys plenty of time to take care of things, and make your decisions. I need you to let me know if you're going or not, though." Max said, looking at all of us who still had parents to find.

"Oh!" Dr. Martinez said, remembering something. "I'll be buying you all cell phones, so we can all stay in touch!"

That made it final. Max's mom was awesome.

"And, if any of you don't want to meet your parents, you're more than welcome to stay with me." Dr. Martinez smiled at all of us before sending us to get ready for bed.

I wasn't so sure I wanted to meet my biological family. But then I thought of Ella, and what she did when given the chance to meet her father. At least she could say she tried, no matter the results.

And I decided that I was going to be able to say that, too.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"You can do it, Nudge. Just remember to tell him that you definitely don't want to break up with him," Ella said.

It had been two days since I found out who my parents were and had decided to go ahead and meet them.

This morning, I was going to tell Micha I was leaving Arizona for now. I could only hope that he would take it well and wouldn't want to break up. Max, Ella and Angel were waiting on the staircase with me for him to come over, encouraging me.

"And, don't start with; look, we need to talk, either," Angel added. She had seen way too many love movies in my opinion.

Max patted my shoulder as we heard a car roll up the driveway. Dr. Martinez had taken the boys to the doctor's office for checkups and wouldn't be back for at least another half hour.

"It'll be okay, Nudge," Max tried to reassure me. "Micha's a cool guy. He'll understand."

I saw Micha's shadow move along the sidewalk, only seeing his feet. Two quick knocks came on the front door before it was flung open.

My stomach dropped._ C'mon Nudge, pull yourself together, girl. Erasers, Flyboys and M-Geeks were deadly and you didn't freak out._

"Never fear," I heard Micha's voice call out as I stood up and started to slowly descend down the staircase, "Micha's here!"

I took one last glance at Max, Ella and Angel. They smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down before stepping into Micha's view.

"Hi, Nudge," Micha said when he saw me, smiling and his brown eyes softening as he hugged me.

I hugged him back, mumbling my "hi" into his shoulder.

He let go of me, and I leaned against the wall, casting my eyes downward.

"Look," I started, but caught myself as I remembered Angel's warning. "I need to tell you something."

"Okay," he said, his voice hinting at confused. "Go for it."

"You know how Dr. Martinez adopted me?" Which, was actually more or less true. I mean, it wasn't legally documented but...

Micha nodded and I continued. "I'm going to meet my birth parents."

"That's great!" Micha said enthusiastically, hugging me again.

"Yeah, but there's a catch."

"And what would that be?"

"They live in North Carolina."

"Like, right on the beach?"

I shook my head. "No, about twenty minutes away."

"Oh. Well, at least it's still walking distance."

"I don't get it," I said, letting my voice color itself to sound as confused as I really was. "I'm going to North Carolina for who knows how long. And, I don't want to sound clingy or controlling, but, shouldn't you be sad or something?"

"I'm sad that you'll be leaving for who knows how long, to use your phrase, but I'm more happy for you than I am sad for me."

I gave him a weird look, trying to figure out if he was real.

"You're a great person," he continued, seeing my expression, "and you deserve a shot or a few at true happiness, and I'm not going to stand in your way. And, if you want to give long-distance a shot, I'm up for it if you are." I stared at him for a few seconds longer, then threw my arms around his neck, letting him know that I was going to take him up on that offer.

"You're amazing, Micha. You really are."

I felt him smile as he wrapped his arms around the base of my back- just under my tightly tucked in wings.

"I know, I know," he replied, letting me go just as Dr. Martinez and the boys got back from the doctor's office, looking like they were going through mental torture.

"Shots?" I guessed, and they nodded once before putting on indifferent facial expressions as Micha turned around.

The boys started to talk about some new metal band and I left them in the foyer, heading back upstairs to where my sisters, biological or not, were waiting.

"Yes! Way to go, Nudge!" Ella cheered just softly enough so Micha couldn't hear it, sending me a high-five. Angel started to do a little dance, singing the super-old chant,

"Micha and Nudge, sittin' in a tree-" I glared at her while smiling, which probably ruined the effect, but she stopped anyway.

Max smiled at me from across the room. "See? I told you Micha was cool, didn't I?"

"Or," Ella started, and I knew what was coming. "To use Nudge's description, he's amazing," they all finished together.

I tried to glare at them, but I couldn't stop smiling, so I ended up laughing.

I was a very lucky girl to have a "family" like mine and a boyfriend like Micha.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

I sighed a content sigh from my hotel bed. We had decided to check into a hotel for the night, seeing as Dr. Martinez had given Max money for this kind of thing. She was hesitant to accept it at first, but now I think she was glad she had.

I glanced at Angel, who was wearing a big smile and talking cheerfully with her brother. Max, Fang and Iggy were gathered around the TV and talking during the commercial break. Fang was punching Iggy jokingly and Max was rolling her eyes.

Did I really want to leave _this_ for the unknown? What may become crushed hopes, crushed dreams? I mean, the family I had now was so great.

I shook the haunting thoughts from my head. I was going to be able to say that I tried, no matter what the results turned out to be. And, if my family turned out to be like Iggy's, I would just go back to Dr. Martinez's house and resume life as normal.

But, I was going to be able to say I tried.

"Hey, Nudge," Angel said, sitting next to my laying body, tucking in her white wings a little bit so she didn't hit me.

"Hi, Angel. Hey, Gaz," I said, sitting up and scooting over so there would be room for all three of us on the bed.

"Are you guys excited?" I asked rhetorically.

Gazzy smirked and Angel giggled. "You could say that," she said in her sweet, soprano voice.

I smiled and gently ran my fingers through Angel's curly blonde hair. Gazzy sighed as he rearranged his position into one where he was leaning towards Angel, but back a little, putting all his weight onto the palm that was just behind her. It was a protective posture, even if he didn't know it was.

Angel leaned back into Gazzy's shoulder as I took my hand away from her hair and they smiled at each other.

I looked past the two siblings to the group of older kids. Fang had his arm around Max, and Max was half-asleep on his shoulder. Fang and Iggy were watching baseball on TV, talking casually.

It was times like this, when everyone grouped up, that I felt excluded out of my own "family". Everyone else fit together somehow, whether it be by age and friendship, or they had the same blood running through their veins. They all even fit together in their looks. Max, Iggy, Gaz and Angel all had some sort of blonde hair. Max and Fang both had brown eyes, and Iggy, Gazzy and Angel all had blue eyes. I mean, yeah, I had dark hair and brown eyes like Fang, but no one would pass us for siblings, anyway.

I sighed, and Gazzy looked over at me and smiled, letting one tawny wing extend behind Angel towards me and I met his wing halfway with my own tawny wing.

I smiled back at him and looked into his blue eyes, thinking I saw a sparkle of maturity.

And then he let one rip and that went out the door.

Angel elbowed him in the ribs and I jumped up from the bed and threw open the window, but kept the curtain closed.

"Sorry," he said, giggling.

"Nudge," Max's half-asleep form groaned as Iggy high-fived Gazzy, not missing with his blind eyes. "It's cold out. Close the window.

"It's not cold, Max. Besides, you have Fang over there to keep you warm."

She smiled, snuggling in closer to Fang, and I shut the window. Half-way.

Angel yawned, and Max woke up a bit more.

"Okay, everyone to bed," she said, holding back a yawn of her own. "We have a big day tomorrow."

Iggy clicked the power button on the remote as he unfolded his long frame to stand up. Fang kissed Max on the forehead before leaving to the boys' room with Gazzy and Iggy behind him.

I took my pajamas from my backpack and quickly changed, stuffing my old clothes into it. Max and Angel changed, too; Max into pajamas and a tank top similar to mine, and Angel into a nightgown. Angel had always loved those in the Colorado house, but they reminded the rest of us of out days at the School.

_**Nudge?**_ Angel's voice said in my mind shortly after we had fist-stacked and crawled into bed; Max and Angel sharing.

_Yeah?_ I thought back, rolling over to face her.

_**Do you think my parents will like me?**_

_Of course they will, Angel. How could they not like you? I mean, you're cute sweet and adorable._

_**Well, yeah. But, they obviously gave me to the School for a reason. What if they didn't want Gazzy and I?**_

_Angel, look. There's always going to be "what if's" in life. You have to be brave enough to face those head-on, no matter what the results might be._

Silence.

_Angel?_

_**Yeah. You're right. I'm to bed now, okay?**_

_Okay. 'Night, Angel._

_**'Night, Nudge.**_

If only it was as easy as that.

I couldn't fall asleep tonight. Every time I got close, taunting thoughts of my family would haunt me, or heart-jerking of the fact that we were going to be quite possibly giving up Angel and Gazzy tomorrow.

Finally, at about three o' clock in the morning, I gave up on sleeping and rolled over to face Angel again, instead of the half-open window. I opened up the binder Max was using to keep all the information on our parents straight, and I quickly found Gazzy and Angel's section. I quickly scanned the pages, looking for the address. I found it, and tucked it into my mind, having decided to go and check out their house, since we were about a five minutes flight away from Munising.

I rolled out of bed and pulled on my hoodie over my tank top, and a pair of shoes. I opened the window all the way again, jumped out it and unfurled my wings just as my feet touched the ground. I flapped them, rising to the elevation of the open I had just jumped out of and closed it almost all the way. I left a little space open so that I could open it and climb in through there, rather than answer the concierge's questions, or, rather, avoid them.

I flew off to the north, just like earlier this morning, only this time going to a certain place for a certain reason.

I landed on the outskirts of Munising, and quickly located the section for housing. I looked at street sign after street sign, looking for a specific street. Finally, I found the street and looked for the specific house number, and did a double-take when I saw it.

The house that we would be visiting tomorrow, or, later today, actually, was pretty big. Especially since it only held two people. Angel had told me that they didn't have any other children after giving her and her brother up. The outside was done in nice stonework and a nice, impressive front door. What's the word for when someone lets you know that they are, in fact, better than you? That's the word I would use to describe the door, scratch that, the house. Along the pathway there was flowers, but I assumed they were fake, because it got too cold in Michigan winters for anything to grow. But, they were pretty, nonetheless. I walked around to the back of the house, easily jumping the gate to investigate the back of the house.

Again, I had to do a double-take. How rich _were_ these people, exactly? They had a large porch, with an expensive grill (I knew it was expensive because, after much persuading from everyone, Dr. Martinez bought one for Iggy), and a table with an umbrella for shade. The table was one of those ones with the frame in metal, and then the actual table part is glass.

But, what really caught my eye was the pond. The water was clear and smooth, like glass, and reflected the moon on its surface. I knelt down beside it, and dipped my finger in the water and quickly yanked it back out. It was freezing! I moved my hand along the rocks surrounding the pond and the were cool to the touch and smooth. With my raptor vision I could tell that they matched the stonework of the house. I looked up from the pond, and my mouth dropped open.

Behind the pond were twin white porcelain birdbaths. And behind that there was three oak trees that had branches just big enough for birds and enough covering by the leaves for them to feel safe.

I glanced back at the marvelous house, and a crazy idea popped into my head. I knew Max would kill me for it, bring me back to life and then kill me again. Repeat as many times as needed. But, I thought with a smile, Max doesn't have to find out.

Hoping they didn't have a good alarm system, I quietly popped open a window like Jeb had taught me oh-so many years ago. I hoisted myself through the window after propping the screen against a wall and slid in, eternally grateful that they didn't have a good alarm system.

I had landed in what seemed to be a living room. There was a sofa that faced a fireplace, and two matching loveseats facing each other on either side.

Behind me, there was a breakfast bar with four stools, which was in the open kitchen. Off to the side of the kitchen was a makeshift dining room, with no walls or anything separating it. I crept silently along the floor to see what the room was next to the kitchen, my mind already formulating what I would use as an excuse for this to Max.

_Just a quick recon of the house, Max. You know, just in case they turned out to be Itex spies. You can never be too careful, right?_

I reminded myself of Iggy and Gazzy. Except, without all the boyish immaturity.

The room next to the kitchen turned out to be like a parlor, but modern. There was a doorway from here into the kitchen for quick coffee service, and a loveseat that matched the two in the living room, with a coffee table in front of it. The coffee table was like the one outside, minus the umbrella. And it was smaller. On it was coasters so you didn't get rings on the table, I suppose, and a bunch of popular magazines.

I crept back to the living room, feeling sort-of like a ninja. Like, a criminal ninja. I walked along the hallway that extended past the stairs and stopped when it came to a fork. To my right, I heard light snoring, and didn't stop to see what was to my left before silently walking up the stairs, fearing any creaky steps.

There was a small hallway in front of me and I could see the end of it, but there was nothing there. On my left, there was a door, and I opened it cautiously.

Max was so going to kill me.

A bathroom. That's all it was. It had a toilet, a double-sink and one of those combo shower-tub things.

To my right was another small hallway with two doors. From in front of either door, I could look ahead and see the kitchen in the bottom of my vision. To keep you from walking off the edge and landing in front of the fireplace was railing.

I opened the first of two doors and my mouth dropped open in shock. The room was painted in a grayish blue, and had the blueprints to the first airplane drawn on one wall in Sharpie. On the other wall where two more doors were (to the bathroom and closet) were the blueprints to cars and computers, also drawn in black Sharpie. On the wall straight ahead, between two windows and above a dresser was and eagle in flight, again, drawn in Sharpie. On the door the wall was on was a bed, the frame of it in white wood, and the quilt in a gray blue that matched the paint. The sheets and pillows were white, like the wood, except whiter.

If Gazzy's parents took them in, that would be Gazzy's room, and he would love it. It was perfect for him, almost like they knew what he liked.

I continued on cheerfully to the next door, and when I pulled it open, I stepped inside in awe. It was definitely a girl's room; the walls were painted in a solid, soft, but bright, pink. Around the top of the room, all the way around were little teddy bears that had white wings like Celeste did. The bed resemble the one in Gazzy's room, white frame, pillows and sheets, but this one's comforter was pink like the walls, and you drew a curtain around the bed so it became more private and closed in. Angel would die, she loved closed-in spaces. Above her dresser was a framed picture of a graceful-looking swan, which reminded me of the one Angel told me about. Her teacher had read it to her when we lived with Anne Walker, and she fell in love with it. It was like, the Swan Lake or something.

As I stepped out of her room, I concluded that both Gazzy and Angel would love their rooms, and that the rooms were perfect for them. It was almost like they had been following them around for the past few years and knew exactly-

I froze on the stairs. How _did_ they know that Angel liked that swan story and has a teddy bear with wings? How did they know Gazzy would rather have blueprints of cars over pictures of them, or posters of horror movies?

I ran as quickly as I could back downstairs, wanting to have space to think about this, rather than just jump to conclusions. I practically threw myself through the open window, and popped it back into place. I snapped open my wings, eager to take to the air and head back to the hotel.

What if they really _were_ Itex spies? I could tell everyone about my nighttime recon and say they died. Only Angel would know that I was lying. And, she would understand. She was smart.

Or, maybe, Max' paranoia had rubbed off on me.

Oh, what to do, what to do...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

I landed with a soft thud as I hoisted myself through the hotel window, but it was enough to make Max jackknife up and acquire a death grip on Angel's wrist.

I could see her eyes squint in the semi-darkness as she focused on me and loosened her death grip on Angel.

"Nudge?

"Yeah?" I replied, standing up and shaking out the tips of my wings to make sure I hadn't hurt them during my landing.

"What were you doing out there? It's like, four-thirty in the morning!" Angel had flopped back down on the bed again after Max completely released her, uninterested.

"I couldn't sleep, so I just took a quick flight." Which was true, I was just leaving out an "tiny" detail.

"Just close the window and go to bed now, okay? The room should be aired out by now."

I closed the window and crawled into bed, hoping sleep would come for me soon.

"Nudge," a gentle voice said, and I felt hands on my shoulders shaking me in an effort to get me up.

"Hmn? Wha'?" I said incoherently, trying to sit up.

"Rise and shine. We're introducing Gaz and Angel to their parents today, remember?" The words floated around in my head, and when I opened my eyes for good, I saw Fang leaning over me, his long black hair tickling my nose.

I sneezed and Fang straightened up, grinning. "Max is out getting supplies; meet me and the other two in the lobby," he said, directed at both Angel and I. He left, and I pulled myself out of bed, stretching and stifling yawns.

"So," Angel started conversationally, sitting on top of her covers and staring at the wall straight ahead. "How was your flight last night?"

Was she onto me? 'Cuz she sounded mad.

"It was good. You know, relaxing, quiet."

"And," she added, "no burglar alarms went off."

Yeah. She was ta-hotally onto me.

"Why'd you do it?" She asked, sounding angry. Like I didn't trust her parents or something. Which, I could see how she could think that. I mean, I'd totally scoped out her house like I didn't trust them.

"My parents aren't bad, Nudge. I've read their minds. They don't have any evil intents and are really sorry about what happened to Gazzy and I."

"I know, Angel. I don't not trust your parents. I didn't think when I-"

"Hey, guys!" Max said, coming in the room just then, arms full of grocery bags. "I thought Fang came in and told you to get ready?"

Without a word, Angel and I slid off our respective beds and pulled out clothes to get dressed. I plugged in my straightener in the bathroom so it could heat up while I changed, ultimately saving time.

I dressed in an athletic outfit; basketball shorts and a t-shirt. Angel got dressed in a casual outfit that looked nice so that she wouldn't like a ragamuffin when she met her parents. She wore a soft pink tunic with a white belt around her waist and leggings that I had helped her pick out just a few days ago when we were packing. Max wore jeans and a t-shirt, as per usual. After quickly brushing their hair, Max and Angel left me behind to go eat while I straightened mine.

Ten minutes later, I was heading down the hallway to the lobby, all my stuff packed up and ready to go after we ate. I poured myself some coffee, fixing it up the way I liked it, and grabbed a lot of blueberry muffins- one of my favorites. I sat down at the table the reset of the Flock was ate, sitting in the seat they saved me between Gazzy and Fang. Angel, who was across the table from me, was picking at her food and looking away from me pointedly. With an internal sigh I ignored her and started to eat and drink my caffeinated drink.

After eating breakfast, we went back to our rooms to grab our stuff before heading out. Iggy and Gazzy went into the boys' room and Angel and I went into ours, but Fang stopped Max in the hallway to talk for a moment.

Angel and I double and triple-checked our bags, making sure we had everything and Max came in the room, followed by Fang. She handed him two of the grocery bags and he left to the boys' room after kissing her hair. When the door swung shut, Max looked at Angel and I, not speaking, not even looking at each other.

"What's up with you guys?" She demanded to know, but neither me or Angel said anything. Max ran her fingers through her hair, clearly exasperated.

Max can handle anything that's ever been thrown at her. Having to take care of five other kids, her destiny being to save the world, her father betraying her, her half-brother dying in her arms, me wanting to get my wings taken off a few years ago, her complicated emotions with Fang a few years ago, even. But the one thing she counted on was us all getting (ultimately) along. So, this, well. It was like, an eleven on the hard-to-deal-with-o-meter.

"I can't help you guys work through this if you don't tell me anything," she said, using a tact that Dr. Martinez often used. Still, Angel and I didn't say anything. Max seemed to give up and she tossed me a grocery bag from WalMart.

"What do you want me to do with this?" I asked, having caught it easily. Inside were boxes of granola bars and other non-perishable food items.

"Put it in your bag. For when we get hungry flying, and in case we don't stop in towns for a night." I emptied the contents into my bag like she was and I assumed Iggy and Fang were, and then slung it on my back.

A few minutes later, we were checked out of the hotel and walking towards Gazzy and Angel's house.

"Anybody have any idea where this place is?" Max asked from in front of me, Fang and Angel beside her, glancing at the address again. It reminded me of our New York days, when we were looking for the Institute.

"What's that street sign up ahead say?" I asked, knowing full well it was the correct street.

"Hey! It's the right one!" Gazzy said happily, walking ahead of the group with Iggy.

We crossed onto that street's neat little sidewalk and started searching for the correct street number. Once we found it a few minutes later, we all just stood and started at the house, big and impressive. Gazzy and Angel started looking nervous, and I wanted to take one of Angel's hands and reassure her, but Gazzy and Max beat me to it. So, I hung back again as Max started to lead us up the driveway with Fang faithfully at her side. Iggy looked lost, so I grabbed onto his wrist and walked beside him and we brought up the rear.

On the porch, Max looked at all of us, took a deep breath, stepped up and knocked on the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six  
**

A few tense moments later and the door was opened. Gazzy and Angel's dad was standing in the doorway, his blonde hair damp and bright blue eyes bewildered.

At least, I assumed he was their dad because he looked exactly like them, and exactly like he did in the picture. And like an older Gazzy.

"Er- hello?" He said, sounding a bit uncertain as his eyes flitted to all of us rapidly, and then going back to Gazzy and stopping there. And then he looked at Angel, all while Max was trying to figure out words.

"Come in," he said, moving aside to let us all in and then leading us into the modern parlor.

"Can I get you guys anything?" He asked politely as we all sat down. "Coffee? Muffins? Donuts?"

"Coffee would be great," I said.

"So would some muffins," Gazzy said thoughtfully.

"And I think a few donuts would hit the spot," Iggy added in, and I could almost hear Max's internal groans. Gazzy's dad nodded and went through the door into the kitchen.

"Gazzy, we're at our _parents_ house for the first time ever, and you're worried about food?" Angel said in disbelief. "The first thing he's gonna remember you saying is 'muffins.'"

"I'm hungry," he said almost sheepishly, and Angel shook her head, smiling as their dad came back into the room, holding a coffee mug and a plate of muffins and donuts. I eagerly took a sip of the coffee and then leaned back into the couch, feeling my senses jerk awake. Fang watched warily, as if he wasn't sure I should have another cup of coffee.

"Who are you guys?" Their dad asked, looking at the six of us again. "Why do these two look exactly like me?" He pointed at Gazzy and Angel, and I mentally snorted. He should know. He knew they weren't dead when the School took them.

"Well," Max started bravely, "these two are Gazzy and Angel. The kids you, uh, you know a few years ago." Max finished, carefully skirting around "gave up".

Their dad nodded, understanding what Max was avoiding saying. "Well, how about the rest of you? Who are you?"

"We're friends," Max started.

"But we've been like family since forever," I finished interrupting Max.

"Okay," their dad said, nodding and taking it all in and nodding. Max tensed up, knowing what was about to happen. "Well, since they _are_ my children, they are my responsibility, and besides, I'd be more than happy to take them in." He looked Gazzy and Angel straight in the eyes when he said this, and he paused uncertainly when Iggy tensed up, Fang's arm went around Max and my eyes started to water.

"If that's okay with you," he finished.

Gazzy and Angel nodded vigorously, their blonde curls bouncing, but then looked at all of us, minus Angel looking at me. A tense and awkward blanket settled around us as Max and Angel started at each other, obviously communicating non-verbally.

Max stood up suddenly and hugged both Gazzy and Angel, her eyes starting to water, too.

"We," Angel said, "Gazzy and I, are going to stay. Where we belong." She announced, making it official.

And that's when I started crying. Not hysterically sobbing, but I had tears rolling down my cheeks.

I was going to leave Angel, quite possibly my best friend, quite possibly forever, on these terms? Okay, universe, I'm so sorry for using hairspray and leaving lights on, just, please don't let that happen!

Fang quickly hugged Gazzy and stood off next to him, ruffling his hair and patting his back and shoulder as Max and Angel continued to hug. Iggy even started to tear up, too, as the realization hit him that his partner-in-crime was going to be leaving him forever. I stood off awkwardly to the side, trying to stop the tears from falling when Gazzy walked over to me, now the same height as me. He hugged me, and I realized I was going to miss him, too.

"You know," he said, pulling away from me, "I think I'm going to miss you."

"Yeah?" I asked, smiling. "Maybe I'll miss you, too."

"Okay, guys," Max said, pulling back from Angel. "It's time to go." She sniffed and Fang was next to her immediately, his arm around her. Iggy came up to me then, and put his arm around my shoulders, comforting and protective as always and I leaned into him, glad for it.

Gazzy, Angel and their dad stood in the doorway as we left, watching and waving until they could so us no more, and we were doing the same.

And that was that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

I heard Angel before I saw her. Her shoes were slapping against the sidewalk, but it didn't register with me that it was Angel; I thought it was just another jogger.

"Nudge!" Her sweet, childish voice called out, and the four of us turned around to face her, Iggy still with his arm around my shoulders, and I could almost feel Max tense up, awaiting the news that her dad had tried to capture her and Gazzy... Angel looked at us, a few feet away from me, shifting her weight back and forth on her feet, looking uncertain and nervous.

"Can we talk? You know, just you and me?" Angel asked pointedly, and Max and Fang looked at each other before Max pointed about a mile off to a secluded spot.

"Meet us over there, 'kay?" Fang dropped back and barely brushed against Iggy, leading him and his comforting arm away from me.

I watched them leave, then turned my full attention onto Angel.

"I'm sorry I got mad at you. It was stupid. I guess I was just jealous, which was totally stupid. And, if you don't ever forgive me, I understand. It's my own stupid fault. But, when I was reading your thoughts back at my house, I realized that I'll always be your little sister, and you'll always be one of my big sisters, no matter what." Angel was beginning to tear up, as I stood there and watched her, arms crossed.

"Angel, there's nothing for me to forgive you for. I was never mad at you, you should know that."

"Okay," she said, brightening up a little bit. "Here, I got something for you, when we would have to separate. I mean, I didn't think it'd be like this but, here," Angel motioned for me to extend my wrist, and I did, letting her put a bracelet on.

It was a charm bracelet. And it already had its first charm, a little heart with angel wings. Angel grinned sheepishly like Gazzy did so often, and I hugged her.

"Thanks, Angel. It's totally awesome. And, I hope you do great with your normal life. School, slumber parties, you know. Just, just don't get your wings taken off, 'kay?" Angel laughed and smiled.

"'Kay." We let go of each other, and I stepped back.

"I better go now, but, keep in touch. Text me or something." Angel nodded and waved as I walked off to where Max and Fang and Iggy were waiting for me, and I watched her retreating form, thinking about the person it held.

When I caught up with the three, they were tearing into granola bars and I grinned at them, ready to go. We took off into the sunlight, feeling strong and powerful, able to overcome any problem that came our way. Optimistic, I think, is the right word.

But, of course, things couldn't stay that way forever.

This hypothesis was once again tested true because, without warning, I suddenly dropped out of the sky like Max used to, images of people in whitecoats, Erasers flashing through my head, the overwhelming feeling of being chased striking fear into my heart.

I screamed, unable to flap my wings and knowing I was going to die.

"Nudge!" Fang yelled above me, but I was already gone.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

The first thing I did when I came around, before I even opened my eyes, was sneeze. A little, high-pitched sneeze. Something was tickling my nose.

I opened my eyes slowly so the sun wouldn't burn them, and saw Fang's concerned face looking down at me, his long black hair brushing my nose. Even my sneeze didn't make him grin like it had earlier today.

"Are you okay?" He asked, and I nodded, ignoring my slight headache.

"What happened? It was like when Max..." He trailed off and I looked around at Iggy and Max, who were flying as close to Fang as they could get.

"Wait, we're flying?" I asked and Fang nodded, still looking at me with that concerned, worried expression that he always looked at Max with.

"How long have I been out?" Fang shrugged as best as he could.

"A few minutes," Fang replied and I nodded, glancing at Max. He lips were in a thin, straight line, and she had worry lines across her forehead. Iggy was looking just above my head, worry in his blind eyes.

"Okay, guys," Max called out, "let's land for a second!"

When we landed on the wide branches of a tree, I started digging through my backpack as soon as Fang set me down. I pulled out a few granola bars and tore into them, looking up when I felt eyes on me.

And, sure enough, Max, Fang and Iggy were all looking at me with concerned expressions on their faces that made me blush. I was fifteen, older than Max was when the whole "saving the world" ordeal began. I didn't need, didn't want them to worry about me.

"Nudge," Max started carefully, glancing at Fang, who nodded. "What _was_ that?"

"It was nothing. I was just tired and hungry." Max gave a me a skeptical look, and Fang looked at me as if to say, _puh-leeze, I'm not buying that_. Iggy continued "looking" at my nose, which was as close to my eyes as he ever gets. I looked at Max evenly, and she eventually turned away and told the boys to hurry up and eat.

A few minutes later, we had all taken off flying towards North Carolina again, leaving me to my thoughts about what the heck that really was.

_Thump, thump, thump. My footsteps came evenly, but quickly. I looked behind me, and saw shadows dancing in the hallways, their footsteps chasing me as I ran, almost flying, down the steps._

"_Nudge!" A voice yelled out. A familiar voice, I thought. I slowed down and turned to look at the person, and the face suddenly started to morph and a strong hand grabbed my arm. I was jerked back from the sudden stop of running, and spun around to face the person, gasping._

_My eyes were greeted by a hairy face, and the lips were pulled back in a toothy grin._

"_Going so soon?" I glared at him, and the people who were chasing me from upstairs rushed down as I karate chopped the Eraser's arm, bruising the muscle very badly. He yelped, but a man caught my arm and before I could get him off me a woman had jabbed a needle into my arm._

_I cried out and my world started going black. The last thing I saw were two Erasers smiling at me evilly._

I tried to sit up in bed, there was a weight on my that wouldn't let me and hands on my wrists holding me down. I twisted, trying to get the off of me.

"Nudge!" I stopped twisting and opened my eyes to see Max, sitting on top of me, pinning my wrists to my bed, a bruise on her cheek.

"What happened to you, Max? Why are you sitting on me?"

"You were thrashing, so I came over here, and then you hit me. Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yeah," I said, sitting up as Max got off me and sat at the foot of the bed. "It was just a nightmare."

She looked at me and I could tell she didn't really believe me.

"What happened to you today, when we were flying? I know it wasn't 'cuz of hunger and junk, so don't try that again."

I shrugged. "I dunno. Hey, what were your brain attacks like?"

Max gave me a funny look before answering, "horrible pain, and weird, random images flashing through my head at unbelievable speed. Why?"

I shrugged again. "Just wondering." _Brain attacks are out. There was no pain, and it was more like a really bad, really realistic horror film. Not images._

"Nudge, just tell me."

"No. It was just a nightmare, I promise. I'm going back to bed. See you in the morning." I laid back down, and listened as Max sighed and got into her own bed.

_I really hope I didn't develop the ability to see the future._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

_Nightmares. That's all they were. My subconscious playing out my worst in horrible graphics and no color. Not a new ability to develop the future._ At least, that's what I was trying to convince myself.

I glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand, and saw it was ten o' clock. Max, Fang and Iggy were in the lobby, singing up for some contest. My hair was straightened and all my stuff was packed.

Having confirmed this for the umpteenth time, my mind started to wonder again._ They weren't nightmares. Your parents are going to be your worst nightmares. They're gonna hate you, Nudge. They'll only take you in because they'd feel like they had to. They didn't search for you after you were taken. They didn't want you, anyway._

I shook my evil thoughts away and without hardly realizing what I was doing, dialed Micha's cell phone number. On the second ring, he picked up.

"Nudge?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Hey! How are you?"

"I'm great. We're going to meet my parents today. So, uh, wish me luck?"

"Sure, but, you won't need luck. They're gonna love you."

"Yeah, thanks. But, I'm not so sure."

"Hm?"

"Well, I mean, I know it's stupid," I started, "but I've been having these nightmares about my family being my worst nightmare. And, you know how sometimes you dream of things or something, and then they happen?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But, that's not gonna happen to you. You're too nice for anyone to _not_ like you. So, just chill, 'kay?"

I smiled. "Yeah, okay. So what's going on in Arizona?"

"Well, it's a bright and early Saturday morning, and the birds are chirping. The clouds are parting to reveal the sun, and hey! What's that? A rainbow? Cool! No, but, except for the whole-sun-and-rainbow thing, it really is what it's like outside."

"Well, that's nice. But, I really meant like with you and Dr. Martinez and Ella."

"Oh. Well, not much then. I guess it really was Iggy who was the life of the party." I grinned. Our house with Dr. Martinez was always like a party, according to Micha, and he and Iggy had gotten into a long-standing argument about who was the life of it.

"Okay, I'll tell him you said that."

"Um, that might not be such a great idea. It really wouldn't be fair. I mean, there's really no one here anymore since you guys left. And, I don't know if this is normal, but Total has taken up a habit of staring at me, then shaking his head."

"Oh. Um, no that's not normal for him. What did you do to him?"

"Nothing. I mean, I brought over a dog bone for him, but he seemed to not want it. Magnolia likes me, though."

Oh, jeez. A dog bone. Poor Dr. Martinez and Ella. They'd never hear the end of it.

"Well, that's great, at least." Micha agreed, and then was silent before he started to talk about how he'd miss our "parties" as Max walked in the room.

"Let's go, Nudge. We got a couple hundred miles to travel before we reach your parents' house. She pulled her backpack on, and I picked mine up.

"Micha?"

"Yeah?"

"I have to go now, okay? I'll call you later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, Nudge. Bye!" I said my goodbye and hung up the phone. I turned it off, stuffed it into my shorts' pocket and turned to Max.

"Let's go."

"Oh my gosh," I said, five hours later. We were staring across the street from behind some bushes, at my parents house. It was three stories and the outside walls were done in stone, kind of like Angel's parents had done, but less show-offy.

I smiled and fingered the charm on my bracelet. _Angel_.

"It's really happening, isn't it?" I asked, almost not believing it.

"Want me to pinch you?" Iggy offered.

"Um, no thanks. I'll pass."

Iggy shrugged. "Then I guess I can't guarantee you that it's really happening."

"How about pinching yourself?" He grinned and I smiled back, absentmindedly lifting his fingers to my face so he knew. Max and Fang watched us, and Fang and Max nodded at each other, having had an entire conversation with their eyes. It was amazing how they could do that.

"Nudge," Max started, "before you go, I want you to tell me what was up with you last night."

"And last afternoon," Fang added. "And don't say nightmares. Nothing nightmarish has happened to us in the past few months, aside from Gazzy and Angel leaving." They were both giving me hard looks that let me know that if I didn't tell them what was up, I would never meet my parents.

"But, see. It really _was_ nightmares. Last night, anyway. I don't know what happened last afternoon. Daymares? It was, just, like a horror movie," I admitted. "My parents were whitecoats and my siblings turned out to be Erasers. And they captured me."

"And then what?" Fang pressed.

"Nothing. That's when I woke up. During the day it all flashed through my head really fast. Like, how when people speed up their voices to get it to sound chipmunk-y? Except, not."

Fang and Max glanced at each other.

"Do you think Itex could-?" Max said, her voice trailing off.

"No," I said firmly. My parents were _not_ evil. "My nightmare parents must have not gotten the memo. Or, you know, my subconscious was taking over with my worst fears."

Max dropped it and we all looked across the street again.

"Okay, let's go. Nudge, you ready?"

"Yup," I replied, biting my tongue so I wouldn't ramble like I did when I was nervous. Several, several detentions had cured me of the normal rambling on.

I stood up, and Fang and Iggy did, too, following Max's lead. Iggy hooked one finger through Fang's belt loop and we headed across the street to my parent's house.

We knocked on the door, and then heard the thumping of little feet before the door swung open to reveal a little girl who couldn't be any more than seven.

_Makayla_, I thought excitedly.

"Mom! There's people here!"

"Okay, sweetie!" A woman's voice called back and a few minutes later she came scurrying from another room.

"Hello?" She said, putting her hands on Makayla's shoulders. "Can I help you?"

"Um, yes, ma'am," Max said, taking control of the situation. "We're doing research for a summer project about what may have happened to children who died at birth and we were told to ask you."

"Um, yes," she said, looking saddened. "Makayla, go play upstairs. Or, better yet, clean your room."

"Ugh! Mom!" She protested. "My room's not even as bad as Matt's!"

Her mom gave her a look and said, "yes, I know. And we don't want it to get as bad as his, do we?" The little girl giggled and ran upstairs.

"Please, come in," she said, opening the door wider for all of us and leading us into the kitchen to sit on bar stools behind an island.

"I'm sorry we don't have a room or anything. Our living room's messy. Actually, the whole house is, but," she grinned to herself and turned to us. "What do you guys want to know?"

"We were told that you had a little girl die at birth about fifteen years ago. Could you tell us why? It's for a college-prep medical class," Fang said smoothly, adding the last part in for good measure.

"Yes, we did," my mom said, looking saddened. "When she was born she was lifeless, the doctor's told me. And she looked almost exactly like you," she said pointing to me. "Except, of course, you are much older than she was. But, she had the exact same skin tone, I remember." Behind her, the oven timer beeped, and my mom swiftly pulled on oven mitts and whipped a tray of cookies out of the oven.

"Really?" Max asked, trying to stay on track even though the cookies were clearly hindering her ability to do so. "Monique is an orphan. And, you're about fifteen, right?"

"I just "turned" fifteen," I said, making the quotation marks in the air.

My mom set the cookies out on the oven to cool, and then turned back to us, one eyebrow raised. "Turned?" She asked, mimicking my tone.

"Well," I started to explain, "I don't know my real birthday, so I chose one."

"Hey!" Iggy cried suddenly, as if having a total epiphany. "Maybe Monique is the daughter you lost all those years ago!"

"Well," Fang said thoughtfully, "that's not a bad idea, James. I mean, they do look exactly alike."

"Where are those ceritifcates you snagged from the office, "Nud-Monique?" Max asked, only half-covering her slip-up and I smirked. _Fnick._

"Maybe you are my daughter. But why would the doctors lie to me about you being dead?" My mom continued as Max went through my bookbag, after I "reminded" her.

"They probably made a mistake," Fang answered. "And then they didn't want to admit it, so they let you go on your way. People are very prideful like that."

My mom nodded as Max pulled the folder out of my bookbag and plopped it down in between us. "You _stole_ these?" She looked like she was about to give a lecture, true to motherly form, and I interceded.

"No, a secretary gave me them. These are actually copies. That kind of stuff is on file, for when kids start getting curious about their birth parents." She nodded again, buying my story.

"Okay, let's see... Parents, Alexander and Nicole Cavalier." Max looked up, and my mom reached for the papers silently.

"And these are real?" She asked uncertainly, holding the birth certificate up to the light.

"As real as copies can be," Iggy promised, and I could see him mentally snorting at the oxymoron.

"That light thing only works with money, I think," I added in. Just in case. We all watched her as she brought the papers back down onto the island, and then traced over my name with her finger.

"Monique Danielle," she said, every syllable filled with a sad longing. Her eyes drifted to the birthdate and she gasped. "June eighteenth! That's when Monique was born!" She looked up at me. "How do I know that you're not someone else's Monique? Do you have any birthmarks?"

"Um, no?" I said. Was I supposed to? Were Itex's files actually _wrong_?

"Good," my mom said, smiling at me now. "'Cuz my Monique didn't, either." The whole atmosphere around me seemed calmer, and I realized that everyone else was just as anxious as I was.

"So, as long as these are the real documents, it really does seem as if you're my daughter." She reached forward and put her hand over mine. "Monique Danielle Cavalier." She straightened back up and started putting the files back into my folder. "So, if you'd like, I'd like you to come live with us- the way it should have been." She looked down, and I wondered if she didn't want me.

_Of course she didn't. I was supposed to be over and done with. She had Matt and Makayla, and they weren't mutant freaks. So, why would she want me? My subconcious was telling me again, but it actually had a point this time._

"Only if you're sure you want me." Her head snapped up, almost angrily.

"Of course I want you! You've been a nonstop aching pain in my heart for the last fifteen years, and now, here you are! In my kitchen! Of course I want you back!" She said, her voice close to hysterics and breaking at the end. "You're my daughter."

My heart lept at that last statement. I _was_ someone's daughter. Finally!

"Okay," I said hurriedly, trying to calm her down before she started crying, "I was just making sure! Of course I'd love to live with you!"

She brightened up and hugged me as best as she could from across the island. "Okay! I'll go clear out a room for you upstairs. I'll be right back! Help yourself to anything!" She scurried off upstair, and I watched, suddenly aware of the now-awkward atmosphere.

Without speaking, I sliently stood up and hugged Max, who had tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm gonna miss you, kiddo," she said, hugging me back.

"Ditto," I replied, "to all of you." Iggy came over to us and ruffled my hair before wrapping his arms around the both of us. Fang even joined in, and then it was a group hug with me in the center.

"Well," my mom said, coming back downstairs with Makayla behind her as Max, Fang and Iggy were packing up. "Thank-you guys so much for coming over today. Oh! I never gave you the information you wanted!"

"It's okay," Fang said calmly, his arm around Max in a comforting gesture.

The three of them hugged me at once for one last time and tried to be tough by not crying, but I could see in their eyes that they were really gonna miss me, just like I would miss them. But, then they left, too, and then it was just me and my newly-found mom standing in the doorway, trying to watch them even after they turned the corner.

"Mom," Makayla called from the kitchen, "can I have a cookie yet?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

A car pulled up the driveway outside, and my mother looked up from where she was cooking.

"Makayla, take Monique upstairs to your room. Go on, dear," she said sternly. We had already talked about this. She had told me she needed to get my dad used to the idea before he saw me.

Makayla slid her tiny hand into mine and led me upstairs to her room. We shut her bedroom door just as the front one opened.

"Wow," I said, taking it all in. "It's so beautiful." Her room was decorated like a princess'; elegant white walls, hanging roses and one of those beds with a curtain you draw around it for privacy.

"I know. It's like a princess'. It makes me feel so special and pretty."

"You know what would be so cool to learn?" Makayla asked suddenly, laying down on her bed. "Ballet."

"Really? Well, I could show you if you wanted," I said. Getting along with her was really easy.

"Really? Right now?" She asked, jumping onto the floor excitedly.

"Yeah," I said, smiling as she pumped her fists.

"Hey, Rose," a boy's voice said as the door swung open.

"Matt!" Makayla said happily, jumping into his arms. He smiled and laughed and hugged her.

"Hey, Matt, look!" Makayla said, turning around in his arms to point at me. She brushed her black curls off of her face and looked back at him.

He set Makayla down and she ran over to me and pulled me over to him. He was quite a few inches shorter than me and had to look up at me.

"This is Monique. Monique, this is Matt. You guys are siblings!"

"What do you mean, Makayla?" Matthew asked, clearly not believing it.

"Well," she started to explain like she was talking to a four-year old. "Me and you are siblings. Brother and sister. And, Monique is your sister, just like me. Which makes you her brother."

"Yeah," Matt said. "I get that part."

Makayla gave him a weird look, like she didn't understand why he didn't understand.

I understood, though.

"My friends and I were going around town today, getting information for a medical project-"

"Kids!" Our mom yelled from downstairs. "Get down here, now!" Matt and Makayla immediately started downstairs, but not before Matt gave me a suspicious look. I trailed behind them slowly, wondering if that included me.

"Matt, Alex," my mom said, "this is Monique. We lost her a long time ago. About fifteen years, correct?" My dad and I nodded as we looked at each other, and I sized him and my mom up, trying to figure out if there was any possibility of them being spies or whitecoats for Itex or any of its affliates.  
It was a maybe, now that I was looking at them, trying to figure it out, but I cleared the thoughts from my mind and followed everyone to the dining room to have what would be a very awkward dinner.

"Here, Monique," my mom said after dinner, leading me upstairs and to the end of the hallway. "You can have this room. It was kind of unexpected, you just showing up here, so it's not decorated or anything, but Matt's old be is in here, so," she said, opening the door.

"Um," I said, looking down at her. "It's-"

"Go up the stairs, dear," she said, smiling, making me feel stupid. I ducked down under the doorway and walked up the five steps and turned.

"Oh," I said breathlessly. "Wow." The Flock had watched the Harry Potter movies several times and this room was like the Room of Requirement was when Harry and Ginny hid Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. It was long, vast and messy. But, in the middle of it all, I did see a bed under a bunch of boxes.

"Well, Matt and Alex'll help you clean it out later on. There's windows around here somewhere, and you can open those to get the smell out. And I think there might be carpet in a few spots on the floor around here," she continued with a smile. "Anyway, I'll leave you to get settled. If there's anything you need... Well, holler."

I nodded and she walked back downstairs. I closed the door behind her and decided to use my genetic engineering to my advantage for once. I rolled up my sleeves and set to work moving things out of the way. Tomorrow, I decided, I would go through all of the boxes.

When I finished a half hour later, I stepped back and surveyed my work. All the furniture pieces were shoved against the wall so you could walk around the room easily, but a lot of them needed to be gotten rid of. And I could tell that well over half those boxes needed ditched, too.

But, that was enough for one night's work.

"Hey, Monique," my mom said, coming up the steps. "Do you need any-? Oh, wow." I blushed as she looked around. Had I been being a bit _too_ strong?

"Guess you don't need Matt's help... Oh, yes. Speaking of Matt. I know he seems sort of, well, mean right now, he's really not. He just has trouble adjusting to change. And, a long lost sister is kind of a big change, ya know?"

"Yeah," I said, "I know." I was still getting used to the whole family thing and I had known about them for weeks now.

"Okay, good we got that all cleared up. He's really nice once he warms up to you. Do you need anything?"

"Well, a shower would be great," I said.

"Yeah, I bet it would," my mom replied with a smile. "C'mon, I'll show you where the towels are and stuff."

I followed her out of the room and took a shower, later joining Makayla in watching the Disney classic _Snow White_, one of my favorite Disney Princess movies. Afterwards, I collapsed into Matt's old bed, completely exhausted, but happy with the day's results.

I opened up the next box. It was full of Hot Wheels. I guessed they were Matt's and set the box aside. I smiled as a cool breeze drifted in from the open windows.

A heard a car pull up outside on the driveway and headed over to see what was up. It was a truck, a Ford, and it was smoking from the front.

Uh oh.

A guy climbed out and made his way to the front door. There was a knock on the door and I listened as Matt ran downstairs and opened the door.

"Hey, John!" Matt said.

"'Sup, Matt?"

"Not much, dude. Lame summer homework."

"Aw, that sucks. Mind taking a break to help me with my car?"

"Sure," Matt replied easily, stepping outside and shutting the door behind him. "What's the problem?"

"Well, that's what I came to you for. It's smoking, but I can't figure out what the problem is."

"Huh," Matt said, opening it up and John held it for him. "Well, my friend, that would be the problem of the year." Matt continued to look around and I started downstairs and went outside to join them, already pulling my hair back into a ponytail.

"Hey," John said, "who're you?" Matt looked up and then returned to the car.

"That's Monique. Long lost sister, just met her yesterday."

"Hey, I'm John, your cousin. Glad you finally rejoined us. I was about ten when your mom had you."

I smiled. "Hey. Mind if I take a look at the car?"

"Um, Monique-" Matt started but John interrupted.

"Move over and let her look, Matt. Something tells me she's ridiculously good at this," John said with a wink. Matt reluctantly moved over, and I joined him beneath the hood.

"Oh," I said after looking around for a few moments. "I see what it is!" I quickly fixed the problem as Matt and John watched and pulled back a few minutes later, finished.

"It should stop smoking in a few minutes. It was overheated."

"And how'd you know that?"

"I'm a walking car encyclopedia. If you were to talk to any of my old friends, they'd tell you the same thing."

"See, told ya, Matt!" John said, clapping him on the back. "I'm gonna chill here for a bit, 'kay, dude? Just 'til my truck is completely ready to go."

"Yeah," Matt replied. "Want any lemonade?"

"Sounds great!" John said.

"Monique?" Matt asked and I figured it was from politeness.

"Yeah," I replied, "thanks."

He waved me off as he headed inside. I watched him and caught a basketball as it came flying towards me.

"Sorry!" John said. "I shoulda told you first. Wanna shoot hoops?"

"Sure," I said. "One on one?" John smirked and nodded and I started the game, shooting and easily making it.

"Hey!" He protested. "I wasn't ready!"

"Ready now?" I asked with my own smirk, getting the rebound.

"Oh, bring it!" He said happily, getting into a guarding position.

I easily beat him again, and John laughed.

"Who taught you?"

"A blind guy," I answered truthfully, which sent John into laughter. "No," I said, "I'm telling you the truth."

He stopped laughing when Matt came out and handed him a glass of lemonade. He handed me mine it and was some of the best lemonade I'd ever had.

"Your sister is one of the best basketball players I've ever seen, man!" John said. "I wish Janey was more like her," he said, shaking his head. "Anyway, I'm outta here. See you two later!" And, with that, he climbed into his truck and drove off.

"So, cars and basketball. What else are you good at?"

"Girl stuff," I replied easily, spinning the basketball on my finger.

"What would you say to a little one-on-one?"

"I'd say bring it," I said, smiling and tossing him the ball. _So_, I thought,_ this is how to get through to Matt. Basketball_.

An hour later, our parents were back from their day with Makayla and Matt and I were tied.

"So," our mom said, "did you guys have fun?" We glanced at each other and Matt nodded as I said,

"Oh, yeah."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

"Hey, Angel," I said to her voice mail, "I know you're busy, but if you could call me back, I'd really like to talk to you, 'cuz I miss you. Like, a whole bunch. So, maybe I'll talk to you later. Until then, sayonara."

I ended the voice mail and breathed in the fresh, evening air. I had been living with my family for weeks now and my "room" was all cleared out. There _was_ a little bit of carpet on the floor, like my mom had thought, and though we needed curtains and furniture, and a color scheme, the room was nice, and it was going to be awesome when I was finished with it.

I had been trying in vain to contact my "first family", but with no luck. I loved my new family, but I was homesick for my first one. I could never catch Micha for more than five minutes, Ella was always busy with one thing or another, and so were Max and Iggy, who were back at Dr. Martinez's house. I, could, of course, go and visit them. Fang was probably less than, at very most, a four hours flight away, in New York with his mom. All I had to do was jump out the window, and unfurl my wings, free as ever...

Flying, that sounded great since I hadn't flown since coming to North Carolina.

I slid off my bed and let out my wings the tiniest bit, trying to make sure that I still knew how to work those muscles.

"Monique!" Makayla's voice yelled as my door opened and her footsteps came quickly up the stairs. "Do you want-"

_Oh, crud!_ I thought, quickly pulling my wings in behind me and turning around. _Maybe she didn't see them._

She started to scream, and I quickly dashed across the room in a second and clamped my hand over her mouth with much force in the next.

Matthew came up next, a confused look on his face. "What's going on?" He asked.

With one hand still over Makayla's mouth, I held one finger on the other hand up, and backed down the stairs carefully, as I still had Makayla against me, and closed the door.

That was when she struggled out of my grip and bounded up the five steps again to Matt.

"She has wings, Matt! She's a freak!" That stung. I mean, I knew she was a little kid and had _no_ idea, but it still stung.

Matthew started to laugh. _Good_, I thought,_ I can convince them that it was just her imagination._

I had circled around them so my back was facing the open window, and they were facing me, their backs to the door. Makayla suddenly jumped around behind me, and before I could react, had somehow reached through the slits in my shirt, and pulled one wing out, with much for force than I would expect from her.

I cried out in pain, slumping the floor, and Matt stopped laughing.

"Whoa," he breathed. "Is it... real?" He crouched down beside me and moved forward to touch it, but stopping.

"Is it okay, if I... touch it?" I nodded, and extended my wing toward him, with full knowledge that if Max ever found out about this, she would most likely kill me.

"Kids?" My mom called up to us hesitantly. "Are you guys okay up there?"

"Yeah!" I replied as Makayla started to stroke one wing, more gently now.

"Wait!" Matthew said with a gasp, suddenly standing up again. "So, "Fang's blog" was actually real? And, all those pictures in the newspapers? All that hype about birdkids? It was _real?_" His voice cracked at the end, and he sank down next to me again.

"And... I suppose you're Nudge?"

I nodded again, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to show from finally, _finally_, not having to hide my secret from at least _someone_.

"What's going on?" Makayla asked, not understanding. When we didn't answer right away, she stamped her foot and tried to walk past us.

"Mom!" She yelled. I instinctively reached out and pulled her down next to me, my hand over her mouth. We listened, but our mom didn't say anything. I guessed she hadn't heard us and I sighed from relief.

"Makayla, I promise I'll explain this to you later, okay? But fot right now, you can't- no, neither of you can tell _anyone_ about this. Got it?" Matt nodded right away, still looking slightly shocked and Makayla thought about it a bit before nodding, too.

I let go of her, and the three of us stood up.

"Kids!" Our mom yelled again, and I smiled. _Our_ mom. That would never get old. We scampered downstairs at the sound of her voice, quickly filing into the den to watch a movie.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

I flopped face-down back on Makayla's bed, bored. Matt was reading Fang's blog, which had bored Makayla, so she sat down next to me. He had also read the Maximum Ride books, trying to understand more about my past. We had edited for Makayla.

"Can I talk to Angel?" Makayla asked, turning her big brown eyes on me.

Weeks had passed since the first found out about my wings, and we had fallen into a casual routine of relaxation. Even though Matt and Makayla hadn't told anyone one yet, and didn't seem to be planning to, I didn't want to tell anyone they knew.

"Um, not right now," I answered Makayla, biting my lip.

"Can we go for a flight?" Another thing I didn't want to tell anyone else about; I had taken Matt and Makayla on flights. Matt admitted flying was cool, but after the first one I took him on, he didn't want to go anymore. I figured it was because it was embarrassing to him for a girl to be carrying him.

Makayla, on the other hand, loved flying and wanted to go daily. She looped her arms around my neck, and it gave me warm feelings in the cockles of my heart. She screamed and laughed with joy when I loop-de-looped with her, or divebombed. Which, in turn, had made me laugh.

"Not right now. Lots of people are outside; they'll see us." Makayla sighed and flopped down on her back.

"Guys," my mom said, poking her head in Makayla's room. "Dad just got back with dinner." Makayla jumped up and ran downstairs, and Matt and I followed her. He had driven through McDonald's on his way home from work for us. Once all the food was passed out and everyone had ordered, and after the ketchup was passed around, we started eating.

"So, what'd you guys do today?" Dad asked, taking a bit of his cheeseburger.

"Oh, noth-" Matt and I started together, when Makayla interrupted.

"Monique took me flying!" Matt and I gaped at her in horror. Luckily, Matt, more experienced in the parental department than me, recovered.

"Makayla! You weren't supposed to tell them about the kite! It was supposed to be a surprise!" Mom and Dad seemed to buy it, but Makayla frowned and opened her mouth again. I kicked her under the table, light but firm. Her facial expression changed almost instantly to a sheepish one, I guessed it was from our almost-blown secret rather than the "kite" but it worked.

"Oops, sorry Monique! Sorry, Matt!" Mom and Dad just chuckled and continued on eating as Dad changed the subject to a minute-by-minute of his riveting day.

I ran my brush through my wet hair again, hoping to get all the tangles out of it, once and for all. I was in my room, fully dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, getting ready to tackle my summer reading project.

"Monique?" Came my mom's voice from the other side of the door. "Can we come in?"

_We_. That meant her _and_ my dad.

"Uh, yeah," I called back, sitting up and pulling my wings in. The door opened, and my parents glanced at one another before continuing in.

My mom came and sat at the edge of my bed, legs off the side, and my dad stood behind her. Subtly, the atmosphere changed to a tense one from whatever it had been before. I didn't know what it was, I guess it was the body language, that made me suddenly want to thrust open my window and out into the night air.

_That's stupid_, I thought to myself,_ these are just your parents. Dr. Martinez used to do this all the time..._ So why was this so different?

"So, when Makayla said that you guys were flying today?" My dad said, letting his voice trail off, resting his hand on my mom's shoulder as he spoke.

I laughed lightly. "That kid. She _did_ mean the kite, you know. We were practicing flying it so that next time we went to the beach as a family, we could surprise you."

"Look, Monique, this is going to sound like a really, really, stupid question, but, do you have wings?"

She stared at me, and something in her expression told me she was conflicted. Part of her wanted me to say "yes", part of her wanted me to laugh.

"Just tell the truth, Monique," my dad encouraged.

I decided that this was it.

I wouldn't live hidden anymore. They would either accept me, like Max's mom, or I would leave... if we couldn't come up with some sort of compromise or something.

This was it.

"Yes." And I was proud of myself. I'd spoken that one word so strongly, boldly and clearly. And told the truth.

My mom burst into tears and my father looked at me, long and hard.

"Very well then," he said, and something in my clicked.

My father lunged at me, and tackled me to the ground.

"Alexander!" My mother shrieked. "Stop! Stop it! We can lie to them, they don't have to know!"

"No, Nicole," my father spoke, pinning me effectively. "It wouldn't be worth it. Not everything." That stung. I didn't know exactly what they were talking about, but my father- my _father_ had just said I wasn't worth it. All my dreams of us going to father-daughter dancing and warning me to stay away from and someday walking me down the aisle to Micha, holding his newborn grandchild and being overwhelmingly happy... All gone.

It stung like the worst bee sting you could imagine, one thousand times over, all in three words. A slap to an already-bruised face. With a whip.

I shoved him roughly off of me and scrambled to my feet and downstairs, noting that the window was shut.

I was to my door before he was up on his feet again.

I ran down the hallway, past Makayla's room, past the bathroom, past my parent's room and past Matt's. _Then down the stairs and out the door_, I reviewed mentally.

"Nudge!" A voice yelled in panic, forgetting to keep up some pretense that my mind had already forgotten for the moment.

Someone caught my arm, and a sense of deja vu swept over me.

I gasped, terrified of being caught and being sent back to the School, and jerked my arm out of the person's hold.

It was then that my brain caught up.

"Matt? Oh, Matt! I'm so sorry!" I quickly caught him in a hug and ran into the living room to give Makayla one last hug, too, patting my pockets. I was grateful I had become more of a normal teenager; I always had my phone on me, even during homework time.

"Goodbye, Makayla. I'm going to miss you so, so much! Both of you!" Mom and Dad came running down the stairs and I ran back past Matt before they were down them.

"Matt, call me! I promise I'll explain!" And I was out the door. I unfurled my wings, wincing, and shakily took a running start down the middle of our street.

Once I was safely in the air, I was calling Dr. Martinez, hoping she wasn't busy.

She picked up on the third ring.

"Hello? Nudge?"

"Yes, Dr. M, it's me. I'm just calling to let you know that I'm coming back to Arizona. Things... they didn't work out so well in North Carolina."

"Yes, okay, Nudge. Get here as soon as possible, we all miss you."

"I will," I replied, knowing I would do good on that promise.

Matt hadn't called or texted yet, so I stuck my phone back in my shorts pocket and rocketed onward to Arizona, wondering mildly if I'd run into Fang.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Yeah, Ella. I think I just crossed into Arizona. I'll be there really soon."

"Okay," Ella agreed, grudgingly. "Can't you like, fly faster or something, though?"

"No. Look, I'm really tired and I need to concentrate so I don't end up in Mexico, okay?"

"Yeah. Bye, Nudge."

"Bye, Ella." I ended the call and shoved my phone back into my pocket.

I had been flying for a few days, rocketing towards Arizona, and stopping only when I was sure I would either fall out of the sky due either to exhaustion or starvation, sometimes both.

My stomach growled, and I groaned with it, then I sucked it up and pushed myself faster.

I tucked my wings in and instantly dropped out of the sky, using only my feathers to control my fall. I landed on the ground somewhat gracefully in a crouching position.

I stood up shakily and opened Dr. Martinez's door. When no one pounced on me, I crept into the kitchen and glanced at the clock.

_1:03 am. _I sighed in relief and headed out to the living room, and laid down on the couch and as soon as my head hit the armrest, I was out.

"No, Max," someone hissed. "You butter on _after_ the bread comes out of the toaster."

"Ah," Max said, and something was set down. I chuckled silently to myself.

_Ah, Max. Chef extraordinaire. _

"Good morning, Nudge," Dr. Martinez said, leaning over the couch to mess up my hair even further. "Don't worry," she whispered, as footsteps came closer, "I'll get them out of the couch and then you can sleep on a real bed."

"Nudge!" Ella exclaimed, taking her mom's place, leaning over the couch. Then she scurried around, and I sat up to let her sit next to me. Ella wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me as hard as she could.

"I missed you _so_ much!" Max came and sat down on the armrest where my head was, and Fang sat down on the opposite one, pulling his legs to his chest. Iggy sat down in between Ella and Fang, and all this only took a few seconds, with Ella still gushing about how much she had missed me.

"Yes, Ella," Max said impatiently. "We all missed Nudge very, very much." With Ella having been interrupted and not talking, Fang spoke up.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but, why are you here?"

"It's a long story," I said, thinking back.

"We have time." That was Iggy, and when I looked over at him, he was smiling in my general direction.

"Okay," I said, then began my story, starting with Matt and Makayla finding out about my wings. When I finished, Ella hugged me again. There were empty plates in front of us, because Dr. Martinez had brought us breakfast and we had relocated to the kitchen.

"Okay, guys," Dr. Martinez said, coming from downstairs, dressed. "We've caused Nudge enough sleep loss for one day. Go and get dressed; we're all going grocery shopping." There were groans, but they headed upstairs, anyway.

Dr. Martinez gathered up all the plates and took them into the kitchen. I yawned as she loaded them into the dishwasher and debated over whether or not to text Micha. I ended up texting him, just letting him know quickly that I was back in Arizona.

After Dr. Martinez left with Max, Fang, Iggy and Ella, I turned my phone off and fell asleep on the couch, a DVR'd episode of _George Lopez_ playing in the background.

I don't know how long it was, somewhere after a half hour, because _George Lopez_ was over, but not yet hours, because Dr. Martinez wasn't home yet, when I was being lifted from the couch. I opened my eyes groggily, swearing to myself that if it _was_ Iggy or Fang after all, I was going to-

"Micha!" I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. "Wait, what are you doing?" He only grinned in response, and held me tightly with one arm as he opened up the balcony door.

Balanced precariously on the railing was a CD player. I gave him a look, and he just grinned at me and hit "play".

"Oh, no way!" I exclaimed as I recognized the song. It was _Spring_, from the _Four Seasons_ symphony written by Vivaldi. But, that's not why I liked it so much. It was the song that Micha and I had first danced to. Now, he moved in tight little four-step boxes, still holding me tightly to his chest. Somewhere near the middle of the incredibly long song, I dozed off, coming out of my half-asleep state when the first raindrop hit me.

"Micha," I groaned. "It's raining."

"Yeah," he agreed, still dancing to the end of the song, not caring that his shaggy black hair was getting wet. I was about to voice more complaints, but he suddenly stopped.

"Nudge, look!" He set me down on my feet so I could see to where he was pointing to, but still kept one arm around my waist.

"What?" I asked, looking to where he was pointing. "Whoa!" There was a big, bright rainbow that led to one point in the sky and abruptly disappeared.

"It's beautiful," I breathed, taking in the magnificent bold colors and wishing I had a camera.

"Well, when you're cleaned up," Micha started, "it has nothing on you."

And then he kissed me in the rain.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen/Epilogue**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**Author's Note: Last chapter, guys! And this is the last Author's Note! The ending is just too perfect and I don't want to ruin it! I want to say thanks to everyone who reviewed especially, and then to everyone who didn't review. To everyone who read every chapter, even if you didn't review, and even to the people that only read one chapter. THANKS!**

_Dear Diary,_

_Today is August eighth, 2010, the last day before school starts. It has been a wonderful, magical, rainbow summer._

_First of all, there's Micha, who truly is one of the best people ever. I could go on about him for just about forever, but I'll spare a few trees and recount the magic from two weeks for you._

_I had just flown in from North Carolina, drop-dead tired, and had texted Micha, letting him know I was home before falling asleep on the couch. When I woke up, I was in his arms, being carried swiftly upstairs in his arms._

_We went out onto the balcony, where there was a CD player. The first song on the CD was "Spring" from a symphony by Vivaldi. That was the first song Micha and I had danced to, this spring, when he first kissed me._

_He danced with me in his arms, moving in a basic four-step box. And then it started to rain, which formed a rainbow. Micha pointed the rainbow out to me, told me I was prettier than it, and then kissed me!_

_Yes, Diary, he really is just that great. Amazing, I would say._

_And now that I've had a few weeks to think about this, I realized just how perfect that moment was. I mean, first of all, kissing in the rain under a rainbow; isn't that how every romantic story ends? At least, in the books it ends there. In real life, it would just go on and on forever. Which sounds great, if you ask me._

_But, then there's all those different colors in the rainbow. Red, orange yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet... There's been so many colors in my life, so many different events and emotions. Hatred, sadness, happiness, even the very rare tranquility. All leading to one point that seems go on forever and forever._

_Rainbows are formed by rain and light. Light and rain. It just proves to have something beautiful, you have to have both the good AND the bad. The bad is everything that went down in North Carolina, almost everything that happened before the Flock came to live with Dr. Martinez permanently. The good... that would be having such and awesome family. Biological or not, they are simply amazing._

_And, who knows? Maybe the two percent of our DNA that's so different from any other human's all came from the same bird? Or birds that were all related? But, in the case of Max and Fang... that wouldn't be such a good thing._

_Then there's the whole promise factor. In the Bible, God used the rainbow to tell Noah that he promised never to completely flood the Earth again. There's an unspoken promise between Micha and I that we will never, ever separate. Yeah, it sounds cheesy, but it's so true. You'd just have to be there, and see us interact, and then you'd know._

_At least, that's what Ella says._

_And, I'll bring you up to speed on the major events of the past few weeks, everything I've learned since coming back to Arizona._

_Things worked out with Gazzy, Angel and their parents. They all live in Michigan, and their dad was ecstatic to have them back. Their mom was okay with it, too. After she saw how adorable and lovable they were. So, yeah, I'm going to miss them, but I'm glad their "happily ever after" worked out._

_Fang... now there's a tricky story. He found his mom in New York, living under the streets of New York. Her name is Casey, and she was only sixteen when she had Fang. Her parents kicked her out of her home in Vermont, and she ended up in New York. She worked for some newspaper and could afford a small apartment. When Fang told her everything (even the part about the wings) she started to cry. After a few quick phone calls with Dr. Martinez, everything was settled; she would move to Arizona, too, and get an apartment there and find work in the same town as Dr. M. She found another job with the newspaper and gets paid more with this job, too. Fang officially lives with Casey in her apartment, and they're tracking down Fang's father in their free time. It turns out Fang's real name was Devin. Devin Nicholas Harcourt. Since Casey wasn't married to Fang's father, and he left her, she gave him his last name. Casey's absolutely ecstatic to have found her son, Devin, at last and doesn't even care about the wings or that he's been pretty much grown-up since he was twelve; she makes him lunch everyday he's not over here._

_Over half of the Flock hit the parent jackpot; that's more than we could ask for. But, I know I still wish things had turned out differently for me. My story could have ended up like Fang's; the whole family coming to live in Arizona. I think Iggy wishes things were different, too. But, whenever I ask him, he just says there's no other place he'd rather be. In a way, I get what he's saying. If you had told me this would happen while we were on the run from the School and Itex, fighting almost everyday, I would have laughed and told you that you were crazy._

_It's more than I ever could have hoped for; an education, a totally wonderful family, and an awesome boyfriend. And let's not forget our amazing dogs; Total and Akila, who are expecting soon._

_And, Diary, I asked Ella about her dad, and things didn't work out for her, either. He didn't want her. I told her that she shouldn't want him, either. If he didn't think she was good enough for him, well, then, that was his loss._

_Somehow all the puzzle pieces of our lives fit together. Mine and Micha's and Fang's and Max's and Casey's and Dr. Martinez's. Ella's, Gazzy's Angel's, Iggy's, Total's and the expecting Akila's. And soo many other people. People who helped put all this in place, though they'll never know it. They'll never though that I thank them so many times everyday, but, Diary, and to whoever reads this, I'm really happy that my puzzle was finally solved, and I hope that someday, yours will be, too._

_~Nudge, a.k.a; Monique Cavalier (but mostly Nudge)_


End file.
